If trees could talk.....
Authors Note: This is a
short tale on the title
Contests rules:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I move as fast as I could, but there is
little I could do. The scene that unfolds before me, tells the tragedy that befalls
us. They are mostly dead or dying waiting for death to take their souls. But my
main concern is not of them, if I may be selfish; but I seek her among the
dead. There are none which bear her name, so I am relieved. The weak voice called
out and I ran to her. I hugged her and let them cry onto my chest.
"Peter, I thought I would never see you
again. You have been gone for so long and we almost lost hope. They did and
died." She points to the number of markers that showed the dead. "But
I held on for you. I knew you would never disappoint me. So did you get
it?"
I shook my head and she cried even louder. I
have failed in my mission to save my kind.
"Our family, our children all dead
while waiting for you. Do you know young Amy cried out to me to take the last
nutrient so that I would live? Our youngest and she gave me her last nutrient
so I may live to see you." She cried bitterly this time as I held her.
It was two weeks ago when we were a happy
family of plants which lived in this valley. We were free of any intruders into
our life and there was no hardship as the sun shone brightly on us. We have the
water stream which flows near us giving us the needed water for us to feed the
roots and the sunlight to bask in. Then came the Man who see the valley as land
for them to occupy. Their first work was to clear the valley for us, with their
poison which flowed deep into our roots. It slowly spread towards us and we
held a conference to ask for help.
"Send a representative to the Wizard.
He would tell us what needed to be done." The eldest and wisest spoke and
we have a ballot to select the one to go. My love did a lot of convincing and
also persuasion to her friends and families to get me elected. So I was and I
left the valley with a heavy heart. I traveled the land and avoided the forest
as I may get entwined in their roots. I used the path laid by the Man on the
side of the forest and moved stealthily mostly at night. It was tiring as my
body needs sunlight to energize and yet I cannot move during the day. The Man
could see me then and I would be chopped by them. Soon I made it to the
Wizard's place and find him sitting under the old oak tree. All around him is laid
bare of the dense forest that used to camouflage his home.
"Wizard, what ails you?"
"I have been relocated by Man who needs
my land. I am not seeking shelter under the Oak as it is preserved to showcase
the once beautiful forest. That is Man's ironic way of saying we were here. But
I am going too, maybe to another forest or to die on the journey. I care not as
Man does not care for us, then there is nothing left for us to care soon
enough." The wizard got up to walk on his journey.
"Wait, I need your help. My valley
needs your help. We are been invaded by Man like here. Give me a cure that we
can live." I fell on my roots to plea for help. The wizard looked at me
and then reached into his bark under the trunk.
"This may help but you become like them.
I would have taken it myself, but I cannot bear to leave the forest. So do you
want it?" The wizard hands me the potion to solve my problem. "But I
made only enough for two so be warned on it."
I took the potion and I ran for my valley.
"Mary, I can save you. I am a Man now
as you can see as I have taken the potion, But the balance is for you." I hand
her the potion and she looked at it.
"You mean if I take that, I would be no
longer a plant-like I am now. I would be like you who stands before me." I
nodded to her. But she slapped me with her branch.
"Peter, have you lost your feelings?
Your kind is dying and you become one like them. Did we send you for help or
was it to help only yourself? Do you see your family lying dead there? Or do
you see only dead dried-up plants? Well, I prefer to die with them than to live
another daylight with you." She did and I end up kneeling at her dead
roots. I buried the potion next to her dead roots.
"Peter, I see you have made your
choice. Now you must learn to live with it." I turned to see the Wizard as
he stood there. "The next time you cut down one of us, asked of yourself
do we breathe and die like you. If you do not think so, then cut us down like the
trees here. But if you think we do, then think of alternative ways to save us
when you take our land. We are like you; able to relocate and grow from there.
But if you killed all of us, there would be none of us soon enough to tell
you."
I watched as the wizard move on to find any
place he can lay his roots in. I doubt so as the land where we used to roam is
getting smaller. But what of me? I looked around and saw a young sapling. I
picked it up by its roots and placed it on my shoulder.
"Where are you taking me?" The
sapling asked.
"To a place where you can grow and be
safe," I answered it.
"Where would that be?" The young
sapling had to ask.
"I don't know but I would try to find
it for you." Both of us took the journey together.
No comments:
Post a Comment